“He's going to have a similar strategy” - Christian Lee sees Alibeg Rasulov using the same game plan he had against Ok Rae Yoon

Christian Lee expects Alibeg Rasulov to bust out the same old tricks he used against Ok Rae Yoon.

In July, Rasulov delivered a dominant five-round performance against the former ONE world champion at ONE Fight Night 23, earning his opportunity to challenge Lee this Friday night inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.

The two will headline ONE Fight Night 26 on Prime Video as Rasulov looks to land the biggest win of his career against the reigning two-sport titleholder and take the ONE lightweight MMA world championship back home to Turkey.

Rasulov has proven himself as a well-rounded mixed martial artist over the years, but there's no denying that his wrestling tends to be his strong suit. As such, Lee expects his Dagestani-born challenger to deploy a grapple-heavy attack, just as he did in his ONE debut against Ok Rae Yoon.

"I think he's going to have a similar strategy, try to wrestle me, and if that doesn't work out I think he's going to try to play a similar fight as the one with Ok," Lee told the Bangkok Post.

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Christian Lee itching to get back in the ring and defend his title

ONE Fight Night 26 will be Christian Lee's first time competing since landing an insane come-from-behind knockout against Kiamrian Abbasov to claim the ONE welterweight MMA crown in Nov. 2022.

Since then, Lee has kept busy by training his younger brother, Adrian Lee, who made his ONE Championship debut over the summer. 'The Warrior' has also continued to hone his craft in what he feels was a much-needed sabbatical from the fight game.

But now that he's just hours away from his long-awaited return, Lee is itching to get back inside the ring and remind the world why he is one of ONE's most prolific finishers.

"I'm definitely itching to get back into that ring and to fight again. I've had a long camp. It was originally nine weeks and then got pushed back an extra four after the Atlanta card got changed."

He added:

"So for me, 13 week camp, I've been training the hardest that I've ever trained in my career, and at this point, I'm ready to get into that ring and show everyone what I've been training so hard for all this time."

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch ONE Fight Night 26 live on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, Dec. 6 in U.S. primetime.